Hartman back to victory lane

Robin YasinSac- Gillespie, Local Tracks

Published 10:15 pm, Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Sportsman driver Timmy Hartman Jr. got to victory lane in June at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, but it has been a struggle since then. So it was quite satisfying on Friday night when Hartman finally won again at the Malta oval.

"After the season we have been having, it was great to get back there," Hartman said. "We started the season out strong, but after we got that win we just plummeted for a while."

It seemed like the more Hartman did to try to rectify the situation, it just got worse.

"We kept trying to throw some different stuff at it and we kept building on what we had and continued to build on it and that just got us off track," the 19-year-old said. "We finally came to a point where we needed to stop everything and go back to the basics and start all over again and it worked."

Hartman, who is enrolled at Hudson Valley Community College working toward a degree in engineering science, not only had to come from the 17th starting position but he also was spun early in the 25-lap feature event.

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"I wasn't really passing cars like I wanted to but as soon as I got spun, I think it was a motivation boost and I started driving harder," Hartman said with a laugh. "Pretty soon I was up in the top five and I thought I might be able to win this thing."

Hartman took a pretty bad crash the week before, making for a lot more work getting the car ready to race again.

"Me and my father (Tim Sr.) got the car put back together and it was such a sense of accomplishment to go out the next week and win," Hartman said.

"It was super ... it was frustrating ... it was challenging and it was expensive," said Hartman Sr., who had 26 Sportsman wins and three division titles at the Malta oval before turning the wheel over to Timmy at the end of the 2008 season..

"I've got to find a way to live up to that," said the younger Hartman, who has four wins in the stat books at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. "I'm not worried yet but in about 16 years I will be."

The father/son duo have two more appearances at the Malta oval and then they will switch their focus to two outings at Fonda Speedway later this month.

Hearn, the winningest driver at the Malta oval, ended the season with a 68-point lead over Kenny Tremont.

The Madsen Motorsports team secured six wins in 2012.

"We had an outstanding year, definitely a championship year," Hearn said. "I am so proud of the team and what we've accomplished here. All of our finishes were good, except for one, and we missed one night."